The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Software applications that provide interactive digital maps, driving directions, and various geographic functions (“geographic applications”) can operate on computing devices in which display devices can operate in multiple orientations, such as “portrait” and “landscape.” For example, today many tablet computers include accelerometers that detect changes in orientation substantially in real time and report these changes to the currently running software applications.